Introduction

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In order to continue publishing episodes from the story of my apiary, and to explore the issues I think are most important-- without interference, editing or censorship-- I've decided to start publishing my contributions on-line, and to pull into one place all the things I have written since 2005. That year marks the point at which I became convinced that varroa mites and commercial beekeeping could co-exist without intervention, and that even an out-of-balance parasite like varroa still shares the same best purpose with all other pests and diseases: to clearly show where our methods are unbalanced or poorly adapted; and the path back to balance, stability, resilience and health.

My own chief interest and priority is always to work directly with the bees and other living things, so that I can make a quiet living as a farmer, and remain as much as possible in continuous association with Nature. I have no interest in trying to prove that my methods are better than anybody else's. As far as I can tell, real success in farming of any sort always depends on steady work and attention, directed by each individual's special gifts and abilities. The only secret that all good farmers share is that they somehow make their crops, livestock and the place where they live and work more important than themselves.

However, because I like children and young people, and because our society is moving rapidly down the well-worn path that all past civilizations have followed to their destruction, I feel obligated to at least point out that there are alternatives; there are ways to live in a creative fashion rather than a destructive one, and that not everyone needs to live according to the dictates of greed and self-aggrandizement. I've tried to describe the choices we're faced with now in several places in these journals. The only thing I'll repeat here is my conclusion that changes in the way we think about and do the most basic things are far more important than any changes in the tools or techniques used for beekeeping, or anything else.

The information diarrhea of the internet is quite too much for my slow and weak mental digestion, so I'm grateful to my friends for setting up this website, and for adhering to my requests that all material here is unedited, can be downloaded without cost, and is not for resale in any form. I retain the copyrights.

Much of the material written before 2011 was published originally in a slightly different form in the American Bee Journal and Bee Culture. Each article is identified by the year in which it was written, and the years are represented here in reverse chronological order, with a photo gallery separating the most recent contributions from the older ones. As always, genuine comments and inquiries by phone, snail mail or carrier pigeon are welcome. I wish you all the best with your bees, and may they bring as much happiness and discovery into your life as they have into mine.Ideally, the material should be read in the order it is presented below...this index will appear at the bottom of every page. There are Print, PDF, and Email buttons on all pages.

OPPORTUNITIES TO VISIT AND WORK WITH US AT CHAMPLAIN VALLEY BEES AND QUEENS

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UPDATED DATES JAN 2018: Every year I get many requests to visit and/or to work here in the apiary-- to see in person an apiary operating successfully for many years without treatments, and to learn something about making a living and having a nice lifestyle based around this work. After spending three years establishing the apiary's home base in a new location, I now have the time and resources to honor at least some of these requests, and possibly help a few new commercial beekeepers get started with a solid, nature-based model, and an understanding of the successful small farmer's lifestyle. The following three options represent a sort of sliding scale from public, open house events at one end, to a search, at the other, for the very few people who could thrive in a way of life based on the works of Nature